Tuesday, November 24, 2015

British Armed Forces Personal Clothing System (PCS)

The new clothing system will start to be issued to units from early 2011 in accordance with Front Line Command (FLC) fielding plans and will start to be issued to new recruits from October 2011. The roll-out will be complete to most personnel by April 2013.

MTP PCS CU is not only a new camouflage pattern but also a new design of uniform and it will replace Combat Soldier '95 as both working dress in barracks and combat uniform in training and on operations.The uniform comes in two types - Temperate and Lightweight.

Combat uniform replaces the camouflage lightweight jacket, trousers and windproof smock while ancillary items and waterproofs replace the t-shirt, Norwegian shirt, fleece and waterproofs of the current CS95 system.

All camouflage items will be in Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP). Other items will be in Khaki.The design principles of CS95 as a layered system of clothing allowing flexibility for temperature regulation remain extant. This has been retained in the PCS; however, it recognises the increased requirements for protection, both in the integration with body armour and incorporation of extremity protection and fittings for potential combat identification systems.

The PCS consists of three distinct elements that will be delivered separately.

The MTP camouflage outer layers consist of:

Lightweight Jacket. A shirt that can be worn over a thermal or sweat-wicking layer. It can be worn either tucked into trousers or loose depending on environmental conditions.In order to allow body armour to be worn over the top (in temperate conditions) buttons have been removed and replaced with Velcro and a zip. Chest bellows pockets have been replaced with map pockets with pen and notebook/compass stowage.Bicep bellows pockets have been added to arms to allow stowage of ready access items when body armour is worn. In addition, pockets have been added to the outside forearms and elbows to allow for additional fragmentation/bump protection to be fitted if required.The collar can be secured up when wearing body armour to reduce chafing. The bicep pockets have ‘touch and close’ panels to allow combat ID badges to be fitted if required.A blanking plate protects the touch and close fastening while also allowing non-tactical badges (eg tactical recognition flashes) to be fitted while being removable in the field.

Combat trousers. Thigh map pockets have been angled to allow easier access. A secure pocket has been added to waist pockets to allow stowage of small items. The draw cord has been removed. A seat panel has been added to reduce wear in the crotch. Map-pocket buttons have been shrouded to reduce snag hazards.

Windproof smock. The design of the existing windproof smock has been retained as an outer garment principally for when body armour is not being worn. A mesh drop liner and armpit vents have been added to help with thermal regulation.Buttons have been shrouded to reduce snag hazards. Behind the waist pockets, fleece-lined handwarmer pockets have been added. The windproof smock incorporates the same bicep pockets as the lightweight jacket.

Rank slides. No change to the current design. Only low-contrast, all-arms rank slides are to be worn on MTP. Regimental/high contrast rank slides for wear in camp are to be on plain/regimental backgrounds.

Helmet covers. No change to the existing range of helmet cover design, although an update is in development.

Ancillary items will include insulation and sweat-wicking layers, consisting of:

T-shirt. Base layer, providing both thermal insulation and sweat-wicking. Based upon the current operational hot-weather t-shirt.

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Webbingbabel Webbing used to make military belts, packs and pouches, and by extension also refers to the items themselves. Babel from old Hebrew stem-word balal Confound. Webbing ConfusionWant more than a one-sentence bio? Click on over to theAbout Me page.